Warfare & Tactics

It may not be the same guy, but back in the merc days I was contacted and asked 'How much?' to erradicate a solo phoon problem. We didn't take the contract, but we had a good chuckle over the situation.

To be fair, there may be hundreds of nanophoons in operation today. Back then folks would be all "Bad Man! Bad Man!" which meant ship up, undock and go to it (win or lose). It's stil "Bad Man! Bad Man!" today, it's just that now that means to dock up and get safe.

Hopefully the new structures will have some windows so the nullbears can look out and actually see what they are cowering for.

Cerain, you have never had a good idea for the game in your life. Apart from boosts, which is at least debatable, you havent even identified the problems with eve correctly lol..

Links are a minor annoyance that anyone playing for a while should be quite accustomed to dealing with, most people who don't own a boosting alt probably knows someone who does. It tends to be more of an issue for newer players who aren't familiar with the concept of running multiple clients at once (it's usually frowned upon, or downright banned in most other MMOs.)



That booster is in space, therefore a target. You can remove it in any number of ways. There used to be a guy who roamed our area with his links; until we engaged his combat ship, probed down his booster, killed both and his pod. He never came back. Can you always kill it? No, not always. In the above scenario it was in a safe, which made things easier for us. Forcing it off field is usually enough as the sudden loss of performance and attention will tip the balance in your favour.

Should links be changed? Probably, but Suspect/Weapon timers probably aren't the way. Linking boosters to killmails is likely something of a headache as well. I'd rather they use existing mechanics in new ways to increase the risk slightly.

Add a spool up/down timer to link activation, during which time your ship's performance decreases and cloaking isn't possible. Speed, agility, that kind of thing. Once the modules are fully active, your ship behaves as if it has a cyno active, minus the beacon of course (we don't want to make it too easy.) However, the act of broadcasting system-wide should light your ship up like a christmas tree, giving anyone with moderate scanning abilities the chance to probe you down with relative ease. Command Ships can have a bonus that reduces this effect, but prevents previously "impossible to scan" setups. You're now able to do all the things you can currently do with a boosting alt, but with an increased risk. Sitting on a station or gate? You can't jump/warp/dock while the modules are cycling/spooling up/down, giving a reasonable window to do some serious damage. Hiding in a safe? Probers now have a chance to scan you down if they're quick about it. Inheriting timers/flags would be nice, but I expect there are issues here. Maybe there aren't, but remotely assigning a status based upon a passive action isn't quite the same as acquiring them through an action like repping. Who's timers do you inherit if you're boosting several people at once? What if only one person is engaged in combat?

Well my point is it's as dumb as saying logi solo, or solo with his friend. What he means is clear, flying with his link alt which is duo. But I agree I guess it's pointless to argue, even though it's dumb.

You're also claiming to speak for what everybody who uses links thinks and then tell me to stick to the facts, seriously lol.

Continually undermining contributors who actually make sense is also dumb, such as what you wrote about Cearain's post. You're just coming across as very arrogant.



Nice contribution to the discussion.

You're right about this being pointless to continue though so I'll stop, especially since we both agree on that they should be removed from being immune on gates and stations.

Well no, and I said as much. You provide options to counter the effect, subsystems, hull bonuses, new skills, implants whatever. The idea of a ship broadcasting complex signals across an entire solar system being "hard to find" is ridiculous though. Someone scrubbing it up with a BC and active link modules should be easy to find. Someone in a dedicated boosting ship set up correctly should be harder to find, but not as hard as they are now. Balance as required.

Concerning weapon/suspect timers, I expect it's a bit more complicated than you think (it might not be, I'm guessing.) Sure, a weapons timer would be easy, you turn it on when the module is activated and sustain it until it's turned off. Gaining a status from fleet members though? Not quite as simple. The reason it works for logistics is because it's a simple process, you activate a module, check the targets condition, and copy any that apply.

Assuming you have one pilot and one booster, there's little issue and however you apply the flags, the process remains the same as with a logistics pilot. The more complicated your fleet setup becomes, the more demanding things become for identifying and selecting which flags to assign. Does a squad/wing leader also qualify for inheriting status by being part of the chain? What about someone with just the basic leadership skills trained if they're selected as fleet booster? In any case, you're now checking multiple pilots for various conditions constantly and selecting which apply to your booster. It's certainly not impossible to do, but it certainly isn't a quick fix like people seem to think it is.

It would be neat if people had to build contacts with other players to bring additional support on grid wouldn't it?

It's easier to just whip out the credit card and buy another alt.

I think most of us are in agreement that links need to be subject to some of the same risks as other forms of assistance, or at least be slightly more vulnerable than they are now with respect to hiding behind crimewatch mechanics.

There's a separate discussion going on regarding the extent to which using alts and multiboxing represents paying to win. I don't think you can logically argue that this is any different than EA making a shooter where players can pay real world cash for more effective weaponry. That's not a stretch at all. I fully recognize that ship has sailed, but it doesn't make the point any less salient when arguing with people whose response to any suggested nerf of a mechanic or play mode that they've invested in is "anyone can do it." The issue of OGB is more or less settled amongst the player base in favor of at least some kind of timer - whether CCP gets around to making booster changes this decade is another matter entirely.

However, claiming that something is a positive because it "anyone can do it" is not a valid argument. In my view, having outcomes of ingame conflict too closely tied to the amount of real world money invested is not a positive trend. It should not take precedence over player choices, experience and relationships. Once again I realize that ship has sailed with respect to what CCP permits, but player choice is still a thing and I believe the game is more interesting when people shy away from a risk averse playstyle that capitalizes on overpowering trump cards.

That's my opinion, nothing more.

Dude, it's obvious you never played when OGBs sat in a POS providing boosts with zero risk.

CCP has already said they are looking to bring them on grid in the future (whenever that is).

The best case scenario at the moment would be to at least give them a weapons timer and a suspect timer.

Of course this will prolly **** of the booster alts of hisec trade hub huggers the most.

So we'll see fewer small gangs of linked kitey blingmobiles playing hit and run? Forgive me if I do not weep.

There will actually be a reason for people to field groups of command cruisers; I can see those ships becoming far more common than they are now. You'll also see an interesting new element to fleet fights as moving your own fleet's booster around the battlefield and attempting to tackle/force off enemy boosters takes on primary importance.

Kiting with links + snakes is not hard. The Tech II battlecruisers are not imaginary, though one might think otherwise from their rarity. You have hundreds of kilometers to play with you should be able to avoid enemy frigates by warping between bookmarks, or actually dedicate a squadron of your own frigates or other anti frigate fits to warding off tackle.

If you are so badly outnumbered that you have no hope of keeping a brick tanked CS alive...well.

To repeat your own words, it's an MMO. Bring more friends to even the odds. Isn't that the entire point?

All that aside, I can't speak to what CCP has said about bringing boosters on grid. I would be perfectly fine with adding them to killmails and making them gankable with a weapons timer. I don't have a problem with links so much as their having much lower risk than any other form of assistance while being just as or more useful than on grid assistance in many cases.